Morning Coffee

Sometimes waking up is hard to do - and the only thing that will get you to drag your feet out of bed is the thought of your morning coffee, or tea or for some of you, soda. I can't image drinking something so sweet and carbonated in the morning, but then again you soda people are probably thinking "how do people drink that disgusting coffee brew" - right?

Anyways, that's besides the point. I think having a tradition in how you wake up is very important but can sometime be monotonous. So I've come up with some great Angerer creamers to add to your favorite coffee or tea. Sorry soda people, you wont want to add any of these recipes to your beloved brew.

1/2 Cup milk
1/2 t. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 T. Honey
1/2 T.  Brown Sugar

Heat milk, honey, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice over low heat until warm. Make sure to whisk constantly so milk will not burn and curdle. Add to your favorite coffee and taste before adding any more sugar. If you don't want it too sweet omit the brown sugar from the recipe.

Instead of Pumpkin Pie Spice try one of these variations:

Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Coco powder
Vanilla Creamer - omit brown sugar or it will be too sweet
Dried Lavender - strain before adding to coffee

Enjoy and let me know who it turns out!

Sunday Football Beef Bourguignon

Sunday Night Football - doesn't get much better then this for our lil' household. GOOOOO Niners! This calls for some serious football food. You don't want to be going back and forth, in and out of the kitchen during the game. Solution = SLOW COOKER!

After a game full of ups and downs, beers and cheers you want to dig into something hearty and delicious. Nothing like a Sunday night food coma - right! Try my recipe for Julia Child's Beef Bourguignon, it's is a classic. Especially after the hit movie "Julie and Julia", of course I add my own Angerer twist to it. You can follow the original inspiration recipe or cook the Angerer way.

Here is the link to the original recipe I was inspired by: http://www.hamiltonbeach.com/recipes/slow-cookers-beef-bourguignon.php

If you would like to try it my way here is how I made it Angerer:

*Use 5 garlic cloves instead of 3
*Use 1/4 cup of red wine and 1/4 cup of white wine to add a little more sweetness
*Substitute the tomato sauce and tomato paste with 1/4 jar of your favorite tomato pasta sauce. I used the Trader Joe's organic roasted garlic spaghetti sauce
*Use soy sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce
*Add 1 bag of baby spinach leaves

This is a great way to impress a group of football fans after the game, and it makes your entire house smell of delicious food. Best served over pasta with a little butter, salt and pepper. Let me know how your recipe turns out.

Ocean Waves and Rachel Ray

Yesterday was raining all day so Dakine didn't have a chance to get out. So today we went to the beach so she could run her little heart out. I took some beautiful pictures of our day. I think the beach always looks so pretty after a rain storm.

There were so many other dogs there today. We met another couple with a dog that looked very similar to Dakine, and the funniest thing was how similar their personalities were. They would bark and snap at each other. If you didn't know they were playing, you might have mistook it for aggregation. It was cool that the other couple we met were chill :)

Dakine also decided to chase after a crow, and she almost caught it. We couldn't believe it!!! Other people on the beach were clapping for her. Then the bird decided to start dive bombing her back, and that was enough for her. She was done with the game after that and come running back. I wonder what would have happened if she had caught it???

Tonight for dinner I made an AWESOME Rachel Ray recipe. It really did taste like french onion soup, I couldn't believe it. Served with a small side salad and dinner was to die for. I made it with whole wheat pasta, and only cooked it for 5 minuets. This really made a big difference. Whole wheat pasta taste so much more hearty and flavorfull. I don't think I will ever cook white flour pasta again. I then let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce (like the recipe recommends). Here is a link to the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/30-minute-meals/thats-shallota-flavor-spaghetti-recipe/index.html

All in all, today was full of good food and good views. It's back to work tomorrow :)

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!! Tonight is "All Hollows Eve" and we just finished our Halloween celebration with a viewing of The Shining. Seth loves ALL movies, but I'm not the biggest fan of horror flicks. But since it is Halloween I have to be festive.

Tonight we are drinking creepy Bloody Marys, in pirate goblets. Even though we are celebrating at home this year, that doesn't mean we can't have fun with food and drink. So we've got our Halloween themed drinks, what about dinner. Well...tonight, since it's Friday we ordered Domino's new toasted sandwiches, not bad!! I would have loved to make a themed out Halloween dinner, but just wasn't up to cooking a full meal tonight. Tomorrow's forecast is rainy and cold, the perfect day to stay in and cook.

Since Halloween is on a Friday this year, it's okay to make it a weekend long celebration, especially when your celebrating with food :)

Let me introduce myself

My name is Carey and I have been living in San Francisco since 2003. I moved here from Santa Cruz California where I grew up (well really I moved from Northridge, California but we'll get into that later). Santa Cruz is the most beautiful beach town in Northern California, full of historic surf culture and long lived hippies. I would never trade where I live, or where I grew up for anything. I have dreams of living in Paris for a short period, going to culinary school and studying fashion at night. But for now, San Francisco is all the Paris I need. The deep-routed history and rich cultural diversity makes this city a mecca for an unparalleled foodie experience and free spirited fashion.

My passion in life is fashion that expresses who you are on the inside, with style and class on the outside. My other passion in life is FOOD!! I love fresh, organic, full flavored, rich cultured, deep routed, herb hypnotizing, soul satisfying food. I know, I'm a simple girl ;)
I love being in the kitchen, not knowing what to cook, and just being inspired by what's in the fridge. Pulling on all of my foodie experiences I've had here in SF. From Thai to Indian, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Syrian (oh so good), Mexican, French, Italian, etc...the list goes on and on. From all around the world I am able to be inspired by what's around me to create a taste tantalizing meal 5 nights a week. And look good doing it!!